


To Get Through

by SuzuyaSenpai



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Tokyo Ghoul AU, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-05-29 00:43:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6352105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuzuyaSenpai/pseuds/SuzuyaSenpai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaneki Ken was taken in by Big Madam at a young age. One night a new scrapper by the name of Rei is brought into the home. </p>
<p>This is the story of the ghoul and the human growing up together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Finding A Friend

Big Madam ran one of the largest homes for ghouls in the city. She took in ghouls until they were old enough to be independent and she would give them food, education and somewhere to sleep. In return the ghouls would work for her once they became teenagers, she would send them out to hunt for food and carry out various jobs. One of her young ghouls, Kaneki, was one of her favourites. The young ghoul was only eight years old and at a young age he had been in a terrible accident, resulting in him needing an organ transplant. It just so happened that the donor was a ghoul and soon word spread about the new half ghoul half human. Big madam found out where to find the young boy and after disposing of his mother, took him in as one of her own.   
Big madam also took part in events at the ghoul restaurant, her human scrappers were often performed for the other ghouls. She kept her scrappers in the same home as the ghouls, giving them less than the best treatment, but just enough care to keep them alive.

* * *

Kaneki woke up to a loud slam. Sitting up quickly, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and walked over to his window, standing on his tip toes to peer outside at the still dark night sky. It was raining heavily and flashes of lightning came with the roar of thunder. Shivering, he padded over to his bedroom door, turning the door knob slowly, before he carefully opened the door. He wasn't allowed outside his room at night, once Big Mama tucked him in to bed he had to stay.   
The small ghoul tip toed down the hallway, being careful not to stand on the creaky floorboards, having learnt which ones made the most noise. As he made his way down a worn wooden staircase, he entered another hallway with a light coming from a door at the end. He swallowed and continued to move closer, clenching his small fists when he started to get nervous.

"Isn't he beautiful!" Kaneki heard Big Mama praise, wondering who she could be talking about. "I found him out by himself in the dirt. The child has no parents, so I decided to take him in as my own." A small frown formed on Kanekis face, Big Mama had plenty of kids here it was unlikely she needed more.

When he made it to the door with the light streaming from it, he cautiously peered in, trying to keep himself from being seen. The room was always used for storage, a large table in the centre with a fire place, where the light was coming from, and a few cupboard around the edge of the room. He immediately saw the back of Big Madam, a couple of the elder ghouls standing to the side of the room with their arms crossed. "What use will he be to us?" One of the ghouls spoke up, receiving a look as sharp as daggers from Big Madam.

"Look at him. He'll be the most beautiful scrapper here." She cooed to the child in front of her, before she moved to go and stand in front of the ghouls. "He's one of us now. No one touches my pet." She warned. Kaneki could now see the child she was talking about and he immediately understood her fascination for him. The child was young and thin, with pale skin and white hair, sat up on the table. His eyes were large and a deep shade of red, which reflected the flames from the fire. The young boy was dressed in ragged clothes, covered in dirt and torn in most places. Kanekis eyes widened when the child's eyes looked in to his. The boy gave a small smile, though his expression was still one of fear.

"Where are you going to keep him?" A ghoul asked Big Madame, still not convinced they should keep the child. "And how can you be sure no one's looking for him?"

"I'm going to keep him with my other pets, until he proves my expectations." She looked over at the child. "Where are your parents?" The boys eyes moved from Kaneki to Big Madame, shrugging at her. "Speak up." She said sternly.

"I don't know where they are." The boy admittedly quietly.

"What's your name, child?" A man asked the boy, his eyes unamused at the situation.

"Rei. Rei Suzuya." Kaneki thought the name over in his head. "Rei." He whispered quietly.

"And how old are you?" The same man asked.

"Eight." The boy replied, swinging his legs.

"Enough questions, he's staying. Now, Rei, I'll take you to where you'll be sleeping and in the morning you can meet everyone else." Big Madame walked over to him and placed a chain around his neck. "Come on." She tugged the chain, making him stumble off the table to his feet. Kaneki panicked and rushed back down the hallway, heading back up the stairs to his room. He closed the door gently behind him and dove in to his bed, pulling the covers over his head.

"Rei Suzuya." He repeated the boys name.

* * *

  
Kaneki was woken by the sound of birds chirping and the sunlight steaming in through the window. He sat up in bed and stretched his arms above his head, yawning loudly. Dropping his arms he looked around his room, taking in the grey stone wall and wooden floor he had woken up to every day. He had a small room, with a bed, desk and chair, with a wardrobe for his clothes, though he heard that when he was older he'd get a bigger room. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he lay his feet on the floor, standing up. He grabbed his favourite teddy bear and opened his bedroom door to go down for breakfast.

The dining room was fairly empty, a few of the elder ghouls sat around the adults table, a few of them greeting Kaneki with smiles. Not many of the younger ghouls had come down yet, a lot of them slept in until they were woken up. The dining room was one of Kanekis favourite rooms, it had a warm feeling to it, with brick walls and a stone floor. There was a fire place at the head of the room, with a table in front where all the food was placed. The rest of the room consisted of four tables. One table was for the adults, the elder ghouls that ran the place, the second table was for ghouls that were in their early adult years and late teens. Kaneki sat at the third table, one for young teens and children. The table next to his, the last one, was for the scrapers, the humans that the ghouls had taken in. When Kaneki had first come here, he had quickly figured out that the tabled were laid out in order of authority, not just to help organise them.

Kaneki sat at his table for a moment, waiting to see if any more of the younger ghouls we're going to come in. He didn't have many friends here, a lot of young ghouls were still adjusting to being here and the older ones weren't fond of the younger. Soon he let out a small sigh and stood up to go and get breakfast by himself. He made his way up to the long table at the head of the room and picked up a plate, taking different items of food from the table. As he filled his plate, he heard quiet footsteps behind him and he turned to see the boy from last night. The boy gave him a shy smile and came to stand next to him. "Hi." The boy said quietly, picking up a plate for himself.

"Your Rei, right?" Kaneki asked quietly, glancing to see Big Madame settling down at the adults table. "They brought you in last night." The white haired boy nodded.

"What's your name?" He asked, putting only a small amount of food on his plate.

"I'm Ken Kaneki, but Kaneki is okay." He said with a smile, glad to finally have some company. Being a child in this place could be lonely.

"It's nice to meet you, Kaneki." Rei smiled nervously and picked up a cup of water.

"Where did they take you last night?" Kaneki asked curiously, watching the boy carefully.

"To my room with the others like me. Then mama explained everything to me, what its like here." The boy sounded as if he were about to cry, his red eyes watering as he received a sympathetic look from Kaneki.

"Boys, sit at your tables." Big Madam called over to them, giving them a warning.

"It's not too bad, I like it here..." Kaneki tried to comfort him. "It'll be okay Rei." He smiled and held his teddy out to Rei. "Take this, he makes me feel better when I'm scared. He's called Kuma, look after him." Kaneki handed Rei the bear and wondered back to his table before the boy could protest. Rei looked down at the bear in his arm, trying to balance it along with holding the plate and cup. The white haired boy walked back to his table and sat down, holding the bear in front of him.

"Kuma." He repeated, before cuddling the bear to his chest. "Thank you, Kaneki." He rested the bear on his lap as he ate breakfast. Around half an hour later the dinner hall was full, the kids happily chatting between themselves, but Kaneki couldn't take his eyes off the human on the other table.

"Rei Chan!" Big Madame called, walking over to the young boy. "Come now, we have a lot to do today." She placed Rei's chain around his wrists, pulling him to stand.

"Wait!" He cried as the bear fell from his lap.

"What is that?" She asked, disapprovingly, picking the bear up.

"Kaneki gave him to me." Rei mumbled. Big Madame looked over at Kaneki. "Already bonding, I see..." She glanced between the boys. "Let's go, Rei." She handed Rei the teddy, before leading him out the room.

Kaneki watched his new friend go, knowing where he was off to. It wasn't a secret that the scrapers were being taught to fight and handle weapons, it was what they were there to do. Even the ghouls were taught to defend themselves, but what bothered him was that he knew Rei would be being taught to kill, to become an emotionless machine that performed for the ghouls amusement. He had seen it happen before, they would bring young or old humans in after a couple of weeks the human would change...they would look forward to killing, to pleasing Big Madam and the elder ghouls, but that was it, that was what they lived for. "Rei's different." He mumbled, trying to convince himself.

After breakfast, Kaneki wandered down the stairs to do and see if Big Madame was finished with Rei. It was usual for the ghouls to bond with humans, but Kaneki felt different from the other ghouls, he didn't understand why the two species had to hate each other. As he bounded down the stairs, he soon came down the the basement, the floor where the humans were kept. "Rei?" He asked in a hushed tone, trying not to draw attention from the other humans. The basement was a long hallway, which held a number of cells, each one had a scrapper inside. He tip toed down the hallway, glancing through the bars of each cell door, until he saw a familiar mess of white hair.

"Rei...has Big Madam gone?" He asked, glancing around for the ghoul in question.

"Yeah, she's gone." Rei stood from where he had been sat facing his wall. When he turned, Kaneki saw fresh bruises on the young boys arms and a few cuts. The ghoul frowned and tilted his head.

"What happened to you?" He asked, reaching his arm between the bars, holding his hand out to Rei. The white haired boy stepped closer and wiped his eyes before he took Kanekis hand.

"It's nothing. I messed up when mama was teaching me...it's my fault." Rei tried to smile. "I'm okay though."

"Can you come out and play?" Kaneki asked, his free hand holding on to one of the bars and his pressed his face between them. Rei let out a small laugh as Kanekis cheeks became squashed between the metal.

"It's locked." The human explained. "And mama has the keys. I'm not allowed out unless she says so." Kaneki pulled his head back and let go of Rei's hand, stepping back.

"I'll go find the keys." He smiled determinedly, "then you'll play with me?" He received a nod from Rei.

Finding the keys wasn't too hard, Big Madam was in a meeting with some other ghouls, Kaneki barely pick up on what the conversation was, something about an event at the restaurant. He was sat outside the open door, peering in and trying to figure out how to get the keys. The ghouls were all sat around a table, seated so that there would be no way for someone to enter the room without being seen. "Hmm." Kaneki bit his lip, before closing his eyes tightly. 'Come on...come on..." When he opened his eyes, they were watering and on the brim of letting tears fall down his cheek. He stepped into the room, catching the attention of one of the ghouls. A man with dark blue hair held up his hand to silence the other ghouls, before he gestured to Kaneki. Big Madame turned around in her chair, before standing to approach the young ghoul.

"What's wrong, Kaneki chan?" She asked softly, though Kaneki knew she wasn't a patient woman.

He let out a small cry. "I miss Kuma! I want my bear back and Rei has him." He wiped his eyes and made small sobbing sounds.

"Hmm, fine. I'll go and get your bear when I've finished here."

"No! I-I can do it. I want to go get him myself." Kaneki quickly interjected, though Big Madame didn't look too sure.

"...okay, Kaneki, but you remember to lock the door behind you and come straight back with these, okay?" She said slowly in a patronising tone, holding her keys out to him. The young ghoul nodded and quickly took the keys, leaving the room as fast as he could.

He made his way back down to the basement, heading down the hallways to Rei's cell. "Rei Chaaaaan." He sang giddily, swinging the keys around on his finger.

"You did it!" Rei's entire face lit up with joy, making Kaneki feel butterflies is his stomach. He quickly unlocked the door, before opening it.

"Come on, let's go." He reached for Rei's hand, grabbing it as he pulled the boy from the room. "I'll show you all the cool places here!"

Kaneki took Rei up two flights of stairs, taking him straight to his room. He shut the door him them. "This is my room." He said proudly. "It's not much, but when I get older, I'll get one of the bigger rooms." He padded over to his bed and sat down.

Rei stood just in front of the door, looking uneasy. "It's nice." He said with a breath as he let his eyes wonder around the room. "I wish I had a room like this."

Kanekis smile faltered a little and he stood up, walking over to Rei. "They won't keep you down there forever..."

"I don't want to be here forever." Rei looked down, his bottom lip quivering.

"Rei...we'll get out of here one day, I promise. I'll find a way out and I'm not going to leave you behind, okay?" Kaneki took hold of Rei's shoulder, shaking him a little.

"O-okay." The human nodded, sniffing. Kaneki led him over to the bed, where both of them sat down, Rei happily being shown all of Kanekis toys.

"So, where are you from?" Kaneki asked, receiving a shrug.

"I don't know." Rei looked down at the toy in his hands. "My parents are...I don't know. I've been in an orphanage for as long as I can remember and now I'm here. I never found out what happened to my parents."

"I don't know mine either." Kaneki tried to relate. "My dad left and my mums dead. Big Madam took me in." He smiled. "I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"Oh..." Rei looked at Kaneki with his large red eyes. "I'm sorry about your mum."

"Kaneki!" The two boys hear Big Madam shout, sounding more than just a bit angry. The boys looked alert at each other, momentarily panicking.

"Let's go." Kaneki grabbed Rei's hand once again and pulled him out the room, running down the first flight of stairs, just as they hear Big Madam stamping up the basement stairs.

"Kaneki! Rei!" She screamed, causing both the boys to wince. They ran down the hallways, quickly rushing in to one of the rooms.

The two boys had their backs against the door, breathing deeply to try and catch their breaths. "What room are we in?" Rei asked thought pants.

"Umm..." Kaneki looked around. "This is the food pantry." He explained, looking at the seemingly endless amounts of shelves with food stared on them. "You might want to stay away from that stuff though..." He warned, as Rei walked over to one shelf, looking the food.

"Why? Because it's all stuff to compliment your human meat?" He side glanced at Kaneki, before shaking his head. "I know what ghouls eat, I feel like I'm a chicken living with lions." He admitted. "If I do something wrong, I get eaten." He smiled. "But I'm not going to let her eat me."

The two of them heard a door slam on the floor about them. "She's in my room." Kaneki mumbled. "She'll have the others looking for us too. We're in so much trouble." he said with a small laugh. "It was nice knowing you, Rei."

Rei quickly wrapped his arms around Kaneki, hugging him tightly. "Thanks for getting me out, even if it was just for a bit." He pulled back before Kaneki had a chance to return the hug. He didn't have much time to think about it, before they heard footsteps heading down the hallway, door being opened one after the other. The boys watched the door, both clenching their fists as they waited. Soon enough their door swung open and Big Madam stood in the doorway, glaring down madly at both the young boys.

"Rei, get back downstairs and I'll deal with you later." She pointed to the stairs as Rei slowly walked by her and out the room. "Kaneki, I'm very disappointed in you. We do not play with humans, especially not Rei. He's going to be my best scrapper yet and I can't afford to have him messing around. Now go to your room and I only want you to come down when it's dinner time."

"Yes, Big Madam." He mumbled, walking out the room, Big Madam slamming it shut.

After that the two boys continued to sneak in to Kanekis room to play with the toys and talk about their lives. Sometimes Kaneki would take books from the library, ones he though Rei would like, so that the human could read them. Every time they hung out, they were caught, but it never stopped them. They both felt like they needed each other, like it made the place more bearable. Big Madam soon started to get madder, telling the boys that they could no longer be friends. She didn't want Rei being distracted, so she came to the conclusion they needed to be kept apart. On one particular day Big Madam found them in Kanekis room, Rei with his nose in a book whilst Kaneki was drawing. She grabbed Rei by his collar and pulled him out of the room, before either of the young ghouls knew what was happening. Rei cried out when the book was taken from him and he went kicking and screaming back down to the basement, Kaneki watching from his doorway.

* * *

Kaneki made his way down to the dining room, his stomach rumbling like he had never been fed. Picking up a plate, he gathered some food and went to settle at his age groups table. The dining hall was already pretty full, most of the ghouls glancing at Kaneki every now and then, knowing what had happened earlier that day. He felt himself going red, feeling embarrassed from all the attention, but he did notice something, they were looking at him...just him. Rei hadn't come up for dinner, leaving an empty space at the humans table. Kaneki felt a sick feeling in his stomach, quickly losing his appetite. Big Madame was at the elders table, so he couldn't understand why Rei wasn't here too. 'I must've gotten him in trouble. I'll have to see if he's okay tomorrow.'

* * *

Kaneki spent the next few days looking for Rei at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but the boy never came. Each day Kaneki got more worried, he had even gone to Big Madame to ask about Rei, but she always told him it was nothing to worry about and that Rei was fine. She also told him not to go down to the basement and the other ghouls kept such a close eye on him, so he never got the chance.

* * *

Eventually two months went by, when he finally saw Rei again. Big Madame had decided to bring Kaneki to one of the restaurants shows, apparently she wanted him to learn the business and gain the experience. However, when the show started an elderly man dressed in his best suit came in to view, clearly unaware of wheat was happening, but his face was painted in fear as the ghouls all looked down at him, laughing. Kaneki looked away, but Big Madame nudged him. "Watch. This is his debut performance and I don't think he'd want you to miss it." She spoke excitedly, grabbing Kanekis chin to force him to look.

'Who's she talking about?' He frowned and looked down at the arena, the side door opening for the scrapper.

"Rei Chan!" Big Madam cheered, Kanekis eyes widening.

"Rei..." He breathed, as the white haired boy came in to view. He was dressed in a pair of shorts and a shirt, a dagger held in each hand. Kaneki firstly thought it was a joke, knowing that they never put young scrappers in the arena, they were in experienced and it seemed all too inhuman. The boy looked so mall and so nervous, he clearly didn't want to be there. The boy looked up when he heard his name, looking directly at Big Madame, not seeing Kaneki.

The elderly man in the arena looked at Rei and stepped closer to him. "Hey, kid...what's going on? Are you alright?" He asked, noticing Rei's scared expression. He kneeled in front of the young boy. "Hey, it's alright..."

"Rei! Get him Rei!" Big Madam screamed. All of the ghouls watched and Rei held up his daggers, taking the elderly man by surprise and his dug the weapons into the mans chest. The man screamed in pain and fell on to his back, trying to crawl away from Rei. The look of fear left Rei's face and he leapt on top of the man, pulling the blades from his chest and stabbing him over and over again, blood spurting from the wounds, spraying onto Rei's face. The boy continue to stab, in what Kaneki could only describe as savagely, counting to himself out loud.

"His got such style. Of course this one will be a little rough, but his going to be my star pet." She clapped her hand together, admiring the young human.

"He's not a pet." Kaneki replied angrily. "You can't do this to him." Big Madam ignored his comment, too busy receiving compliments from other ghouls about her latest human.

Rei slowly stood up, blood dripping from his chin and daggers, he looked unsteady on his feet and his face a ghostly pale. His eyes never shifted from the mangled body in front of him. "I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I had to be good."

* * *

The next few nights Kaneki heard Big Madam constantly rushing to check on her pet. Rei hadn't coped very well with his first kill and now he was passed the third. With each time he killed, the sicker he looked and he could no longer hold down meals. It made Big Madam worried, thinking she was going to lose her scrapper with the most potential. Each night she would go down to his cell and hold a wet rag to his forehead, trying to cool his burning skin. She left plates of food in his room, but he would only drink. Kaneki had been allowed to go and see him, but the conversation was always one sided.

He sat down outside Rei's cell, his legs fitting between the bars. Rei was curled up on his blanket, shivering. "I miss you, Rei. I know we didn't get to play much, but it was really fun hanging out with you." Kaneki leaned his head one the bars, waiting for Rei to reply. He didn't want to be rude about his friend, but the cell smelt as awful as it looked, there was a stench of sick and Rei's clothes were still bloody. "You've gotta eat Rei...you'll only get worse if you don't." He let out a small sigh and stood up. "You still have Kuma, right?" He asked, talking to the back of Rei's head. "Remember, he always helps when someone's feeling sad. I have to go to bed now, but as long as you have him, you have me." He stepped away from the cell and headed up to his room. Rei lay with Kuma held tightly against his chest.


	2. Through The Years

Kaneki hadn't seen Rei for weeks. He had heard the elder ghouls discussing the boys health, concerned that he would never adjust to the life of a scrapper. Big Madam, however, never gave up hope. Everyday she would go down to the basement and sit with Rei, stroking his hair and speaking softly to him, it was almost like she really cared for him.

Rei soon started to feel better and managed to hold down his meals. As soon as he showed signs of recovery, the elder ghouls started to plan his next event. They believed that from then on he would only be stronger. Whilst he was sick, Big Madam had filled his cell with blankets and toys, hoping they would cheer the boy up.

Kaneki left the dining room and immediately headed down the stairs to the basement. Both Rei and Big Madam had been absent from dinner and it had made Kaneki curious. It had been a week since Rei had started eating again, so it was strange for him to miss a meal. The boys absence was worrying.   
When he made it down the flight of stairs, he padded quietly along the hallway, stopping in his tracks when he heard Big Madams voice. He peered in to the cell and saw Rei sat in Big Madams lap. The ghoul was holding a book in her hands, her finger following along as she read. Rei sat quietly, though every so often repeated one of the words. The entire scene made Kaneki smile, both the ghoul and the human looked so content, like they were a family sat in front of the fireplace. Kaneki knew this was the most at home Rei would probably ever feel and the most love he would ever receive here.

"If you're a good boy, I'll keep teaching you how to read." Big Madame said sweetly, closing the book. Rei placed his hands on the book cover and nodded.

"I'll be good, Mama." He looked up at here, beaming.

"Good boy." The ghoul placed the book down and lifted Rei from her lap, as she moved to stand. "You're going to make mama so proud." She petted the boys hair, before holding his shoulder, a serious look on her face. The boy looked up at her curiously. "Now, Rei, I have something important to discuss with you." The boy gave a small nod to show he was listening. "I want you to perform for everyone tonight, to show them how much better you're feeling." The ghoul grinned. "And I want you to wear this for me." She pulled an item out of her pocket and at first Kaneki couldn't make out when it was, but he soon realised that it was a red ribbon with a little bell sewn on. The ghoul placed the ribbon around Rei's neck, gently poking the bell to hear it sound. "Beautiful." She praised. "And one more thing. I want you to perform, not as Rei, but as Juuzou. Juuzou Suzuya." The boys brow furrowed.

"Why can't I be Rei?" He asked, his fingers playing with the bell on his neck.

"You're still my Rei, but...you should perform under another name and I want to call you Juuzou." She placed a finger under Rei's chin to make him look up. "My precious pet."

Kaneki frowned and quickly moved back towards the stairs. "Juuzou?" He whispered, deciding it didn't sound as nice as 'Rei'. He made his way up to his room and walked over to his desk, opening one of the drawers to pull out a book. "Maybe Rei will want to read this with me." He decided. His mother had taught him to read, before she passed away, and he figured it wouldn't be so hard to teach someone else. The book was one of his favourites, it was a book about dragons and Knights, something he thought the little human would like. After grabbing the book, he quickly left his room, racing back down two flights of stairs and into the basement. As he walked up to Rei's cell he saw it was empty. "Rei?" He called out, walking in to the cell. "She can't have taken him to the restaurant now...he only just got better." He placed the book down on top of the one Rei and Big Madam had been reading. He let out a small sigh and looked around the cell. The cell had various toys in, ranging from cuddly plush toys to small action figures, but Kaneki also noticed that Rei had daggers next to his bed, stabbed through a bear...Kanekis bear. "Kuma!" Kaneki bent down and picked the bear up, pulling the daggers out and placed them on the ground. "What did Rei do to you?"

"Kaneki?" He heard a soft voice say, turning his attention to the cell door. "Why are you in here?" Rei stepped in to the cell.

"I wanted to see you. I brought you a book...what did you do to my bear? And where were you?" He asked angrily, holding his toy to his chest, as if he were protecting it from Rei.

"I didn't...I'm sorry." Rei looked down guilty, holding on to his arm. "I didn't know it would make you upset...I was just practicing. My cells open because mama thinks I'm good enough to walk around by myself now..."

"Kuma isn't one of your victims. I gave him to you to look after." Kaneki picked up the book with his free hand. "I trusted you." He pushed past Rei, stopping as the boy grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait...I'm sorry. I promise I won't hurt him again...I really like having him here." Rei admitted quietly. "He really helped me when I was sick. Please don't go." Kaneki turned to look at Rei, getting the full impact of the boys large red eyes. He let out a small groan and rolled his eyes.

"Okay, but I won't be your friend if you hurt him again." Kaneki warned, watching the relief wash over Rei's face. The two boys went and settles on Rei's bed, Kaneki place the book in front of them. "It's my favourite." He explained. "My mum used to read it to me...I saw Big Madam reading to you earlier..." He smiled as Rei looked at him in surprise. "I thought I could try and teach you too." He opened the front page, watching as Rei's face immediately became intrigued.

The boys spent hours reading, Kaneki explaining what dragons were and how daring knights would fight them to save the princesses. "But what if she doesn't want to be saved?" Rei asked.

"Why would she want to stay with the monster keeping her there?" Kaneki replied, a small laugh escaping his lips. "He's her true love and when he saves her, they'll live happily ever after." Kaneki tried to explain, though Rei did not looked convinced. The blonde shook his head and closed the book.

"She might not like him. What if the dragon had been looking after her? If she had no where else to go...or maybe she's friends with the dragon and they like living together. It's mean for the knight to think he can save her." Rei shrugged, leaving Kaneki almost speechless.

"It's not that complicated in these stories. The prince and princess are destined to fall in love...it's their fate." Kaneki attempted to find the words to explain.

"What's our fate?" Rei asked, his eyes filled with curiosity as he placed his hand on the page of the book.

"Your fate is whatever you want it to be...you can do whatever you want, Rei." Kaneki smiled, nudging his friends shoulder with his own.

"Will you be my prince, if I'm the princess?" Rei asked quietly, not taking his eyes off the book. He soon felt Kanekis hand over his and he looked up to see a caring smile of the ghouls face.

"I'll be your prince." He agreed. "Look...I've gotta go to bed, but I'll come and read more with you tomorrow, okay?" Kaneki stood up, leaving Kuma next to Rei. "Rei?" The blonde looked up at him. "We're best friends, right?" He asked nervously.

"Best friends." Rei replied, smiling brightly.

"Goodnight, Rei." Kaneki smiled and gave a wave, before heading out of Rei's cell. The blonde placed the book down on the floor and laid down in his bed.

"Goodnight, Kaneki." He whispered, cuddling the bear.

* * *

Kaneki woke up in the middle of the night, his mind too busy to be able to sleep. After turning over multiple times in an attempt to get comfortable, he decided he wouldn't be able to sleep. He sat up in his bed and stretched, his feet soon finding the floor. He figured that he might as well go and see if Rei was awake.

The ghoul tip toed down to the basement, luckily all the ghouls were asleep by this time so there wasn't much risk of being seen. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, hearing footsteps and a chain. Kaneki subconsciously held his breath and peered down the hallway, seeing Big Madam walking towards Rei's cell. His eyes widened when he saw the chain leading from Big Madams hand to Rei's neck, tightly wrapped around him. The doves wrists were bound together by a ragged cloth and he was being dragged to his cell almost lifelessly.

"Rei..." Kaneki breathed, his eyes widening in horror. He couldn't help but think his friend had done something wrong. Big Madam opened Rei's cell and pulled the boy inside, Kanwki hearing the thump of Rei's body hitting the hard floor. He snuck closer to the cell, his heart pounding in his chest and he peeked in to the cell. Now the young ghoul could see his friend face and surprisingly it wasn't sad, Rei was calm.

"Did I make you proud, Mama?" Rei asked, smiling sleepily at the ghoul. Big madam turned from Rei and rummaged through some tools that were on a small desk. Kaneki frowned, not recalling to have seen that desk before nor the tools on top of it.

"You did, Juuzou, well done." Big Madam pick up a tool, turning it over in her hand before placing it back down.

"How many points did I get?" Rei asked, looking optimistic. Kaneki carefully watched Rei's expression, trying his best to understand what was going on. He had never heard of 'good boy points', it wasn't something Big Madam used with the other scrappers or any of the ghouls.

"Today, you earned eighty good boy points." Big Madam grinned, having decided on her tool of choice. The item set fear deep in Kanekis chest, looking at the sharp scissor like object. The older ghouls response was clearly the one Rei was looking for as he smiled proudly.

"Eight points." He repeated, looking up at the ghoul. Kaneki watched as Rei's eyes flickered from the rusty metal tool to the ghoul who was holding it.

"So, now we're going to do something extra special." Big Madams eyes gleamed as she approached the human. "You're so beautiful, Rei." She cooed, bending down to lovingly stroke the boys hair. "And, as your mama, I only want you to be the best you can be. To be beautiful and cute, instead of growing up and ruining your gentle features."

"I won't change, Mama." Rei replied, his tone of voice was somewhat confused.

"No, you won't and that's because I'm going to do something for you. I'm going to make sure you're always my beautiful Rei Chan." She grinned darkly. "Good boy time started now, my pet." Rei rolled from his side to lay on his back. Kaneki covered his eyes when Rei's shorts were removed, before making a gap between his fingers to peel through. His mind was racing with thoughts, though nothing could make this situation make sense. He winced as Big Madam brought the tool down on Rei, the young human letting out a cry in pain. Kaneki heard repeated sounds of metal hitting skin and his eyes opened the found themselves looking directly into Rei's. His heart pounded, unable to look away from his friend, Rei not breaking eye contact until he threw his head back to scream, causing Kaneki to immediately cover his ears. He closed his eyes tightly, the images of Rei being beaten and torn flashed in his head.

* * *

Kaneki shot up in bed, breathing heavily as he felt sweat dripping from his forehead. He looked around in the dark, his eyes soon adjusting to the lack of light. "It was just a nightmare..." He breathed, pushing his hair back from his forehead. "Rei..." He laid back down and yawned, his heart rate slowly slowing down to its normal rate. It didn't take long before he fell asleep again, his mind attempting to push the real world away .

"I told you, Kaneki, Juuzou is busy and you can't see him. I can't have you jeopardising his performance." Big Madam waved the young ghoul away, wanting him to leave her in peace. This had become a routine with the ghoul, every dinner time he came up to her table and asked to see Rei. After so long of the same question, she was starting to lose her patients. "He's the best scrapper this place has ever had, he doesn't need you to distract him."

"Rei." Kaneki corrected her. "Rei is my friend. I've barely seen him for years! I doubt we'd even recognise each other anymore!" Kaneki complained. Big Madam frowned and stood up from her chair.

"If you can't recognise him, then clearly you're not as friendly as you thought." She crossed her arms and grinned. "I never hear Juuzou complaining. He hasn't mentioned you...ever. Now go, before I lose my temper."

Kaneki walked away from the table and left the dining room. "That can't be true. Rei's my best friend." Kaneki had been holding on to the friendship for so long, he couldn't bare the thought losing his only friend. It was true that they had barely seen each other, Kaneki had continued teaching Rei how to read, but they soon had less time for each other. Big Madam had Rei under a strict training program to keep his agility up and she had started getting Kaneki to go out with the other ghouls to find food. He was fourteen now, old enough to work for the house. It bothered him when he thought of how little he saw Rei, through the years they had been able to have minimum conversation, mostly at meal times, but each time Rei seemed different. The blond had started to not associate with his name, mostly answering to the one Big Madam had given him. Kaneki frowned and his stomped down the stairs to the basement, thinking of how strange something as simple as a name could be so complicated. Rei kept to himself a lot more, he wouldn't talk to anyone besides Big Madam and he often spoke to only himself.

He marched down the hallway and headed straight towards Rei's cell, part of him expected it to be empty, almost as if Rei didn't exist. When he came to the barred cell door, he looked in to see a teen that he thankfully recognised all too well. Rei was still slim and young, with white hair that came down to touch his shoulders. When he coughed to get the boys attention there was one thing he noticed, the boy looked as if he hadn't aged a day.

"Kaneki?" The ghoul felt his heart pound heavily at the sound of his name coming from Rei, it had been so long since he had heard the boys soft voice.

"Rei." He rushed, almost too excitedly, wrapping his hands around the bars. "It's been so long..." He started, trying to ease them both in to a conversation.

"It has..." Rei stood up and slowly walked to stand on the opposite side of the bars from Kaneki, moving his hands to cover the ghouls.

"I've missed you." Kaneki offered as a form of apology for not having been able to come down sooner.

"I remember, Kaneki." Rei sang softly, looking down at their hands. "You were there that time. You watched." Kaneki frowned.

"You're not making any sense." Kaneki felt a shiver as Rei's cold fingers gently brushed across the back of his hand, moving in small circles.

"The night mama stopped me from growing up." Juuzou tilted his head to look at Kaneki. "I saw you. You looked afraid."

"Rei...I'm sorry...I forgot." He shook his head. "I thought it was just a bad dream I'd had. I should've helped you...I was just a kid...I still am."

"No." The human replied sweetly. "I was getting my reward for being good. It wasn't the first time or the last." Juuzou removed his hands from Kanekis and rolled up his sleeve, revealing scars from different torture sessions. "These were the first of many. She thinks they make me look beautiful. What do you think?" Rei's sharp red eyes pierced in to Kanekis, the ghoul unable to offer up any form of answer.

"She won't be happy your down here, you know. I'm not allowed any visitors." Rei let his sleeve fall back down.

"You're still my best friend, Rei." Kaneki mumbled, his hands still clinging to the metal bars.

"We'll always be best friends, forever." Rei smiled, stepped closer and leaned his forehead against the bars. "Even if we're always apart, you're still my prince."

Kaneki nodded, a sad smile slowly forming. He quickly pecked Rei's forehead with his lips, before pulling away from the cell. "I always will be. I'll come back tomorrow, I promise."

"Cross your heart?" Rei asked, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

"Cross my heart." Kaneki agreed. The boys let their eyes linger for just a few more moments.

* * *

  
"Please! I promised! I promised him I would see him!" Kaneki cried as Big Madam stood in the doorway of his room.

"You're grownup, Kaneki, you need to stop messing around with the scrappers and start doing some work around here. Juuzou is busy and I'm sure he'll understand. I'll tell him you were doing your duty, finding your family food, as you should be doing." The elder ghoul glared down at the teen, a stern look setting a fear in Kaneki.

"I can't let him think I broke my promise." Kaneki pleaded, his cheeks stinging with heat as he got more worked up.

"You shouldn't promise anything in this world, my darling. You'll see him again one day and by then you'll be strangers, so let it go." With that she backed out of the room and slammed the door shut, locking it from her side. "Stay in here until you've decided where your loyalties lie." She called through the door.

* * *

  
"You've turned in to a fine ghoul, Kaneki. One day soon you can leave this place, but remember that we will always be your family." Big Madam grinned as she assessed the ghoul. The boy had grown, both physically and mentally, Big Madam would proudly admit the Kaneki was one of her most successful cases. "You can always come back to us."

Kaneki let out a soft breath and nodded, looking down at the floor of the dining hall. The elders had called him to the table to gawp at him, something he had gotten used to. He was a good hunter and a strong fighter, but he had never fitted in at the home. "Yes, Big Madam." He nodded.

"I'll give you a month to organise yourself somewhere to stay and then I'll be needing your room. That is all." She grinned and went back to eating her meal.

'One month.' Kaneki thought as he went to sit down at the older teens table. 'That's not much time. I don't even know how to find a job.' He knew that when ghouls left, they often weren't heard from again and Kaneki wasn't sure if they had died or just found something better. 'As much as I don't like it here, this is my home.'

After dinner Kaneki made his way outside. It was dark and cloudy, the sky looking as if a storm could hit any minute as rain softly fell down. Kaneki tilted his head up, feeling the cold water droplets dripping down his cheeks. He took a deep breath, taking in the fresh air. It was nice to be outside the house, without other ghouls, it was almost peaceful.

"You'll catch a cold, you know." Kaneki heard someone sing softly to him. He looked around for the person who belonged to the voice and his eyes soon fell on Rei. Kaneki subconsciously inhaled, his heart feeling like it had stopped for a moment.

"Rei? Since when were you allowed out?" Kaneki stepped back as the teen approached.

"It's Juuzou." The human corrected, slowly stepping towards Kaneki, a strange smile upon his face. "And I've always been allowed outside. One day I escaped my room and Mama found me out here...just sat by myself, looking up at the fence." Both the boys turned their gazes to the tall barbed wire fence, no one had even attempted to climb it. "I could've ran, I could've gone home."

Kaneki frowned, knowing that if anyone climbed the fence would surely shred there skin to pieces. "Why didn't you?" He asked, Juuzous red eyes falling back on to Kaneki.

"I am home." The white haired teen replied, walking past Kaneki and headed to the door.

"Rei, wait..." Kaneki turned on the spot to face his friend. "I'm leaving soon." He immediately noticed how Juuzous face dropped, his gaze falling sadly to the ground. "I'm eighteen now...I'm too old to be here. Everyone leaves when they come of age. I'll be gone in a month."

"A month?" Juuzou asked sadly. "You haven't been around for two years and now your leaving?" Kaneki sensed the small hint of anger in Juuzous voice.

"Rei, I'm not leaving you behind. We're the same age...come with me." Kaneki tried to smile, to keep his hopes up that Juuzou would still be his friend.

"I can't leave. Scrappers aren't like you ghouls, we never leave." He grumbled. "And I told you, my name's Juuzou."

Kaneki stepped closer to his friend. "Please...I can't leave you here...not after what big madam did to you."

"It's been over four years!" Juuzou snapped. "In that time you've barely visited me." The teens eyes watered. "You promised! You promised you would come and see me and you never did!" The human cried, Kaneki tacked aback a little by the outburst, it wasn't like Juuzou to get so emotional.

"Rei..." Kaneki whispered, reaching his hand out. "You're my best friend. I'll never leave you..." It broke his heart to see his friend like this.

"You promised." Juuzou repeated softly.

"Rei, we can get out of here...Big Madam won't be able to keep us apart anymore...just come with me? I'll help you escape." Kaneki spoke urgently, desperate for Juuzou to agree. "Please, trust me."

"I..." Juuzou sighed and soon smiled, giving a nod. "I trust you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry it's been so long since I've updated, I just really lost all muse for writing and I've only just gotten it back. So I'm going to try and get all of my fics updated! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> So I know, I shouldn't be posting this because I still have two other fics on the go, but I got really excited about this! I was dying to write a kids to adults fic and here it is!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! I can't wait to get the next chapter up.


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